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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to canes and walking aids. More particularly, the present invention relates to and improved cane and lift assist device that has an upper end portion with a pair of spaced apart handles, wherein one handle (lower) can be rotated so that the handles are on opposite sides of a linear cane shaft, enabling a user to more easily support and distribute some of his or her weight and thus move from a sitting position to a standing position.
2. General Background of the Invention
The following table lists U.S. patents that disclose cane devices that in some cases include dual handles. Each patent in the following table is hereby incorporated herein by reference.:
The apparatus of the present invention is a combined cane and lift assist device.
The present invention includes two handles, the lower of which can rotate on an elongated linear cane shaft relative to the upper. The present invention can be used to help one to get up from a chair or to sit down in a chair.
The present invention provides a combined cane and lift assisting device that assists a user to stand up from a sitting position or to sit down from a standing position. The apparatus includes a cane shaft having an upper end portion and lower end portion. A first, upper handle is attached to the upper end portion of the cane shaft.
A second, lower handle is attached below the first upper handle and at a position spaced away from the first, upper handle.
The lower handle is rotatable with respect to the upper handle, preferably about one hundred eighty (180) degrees but it can be positioned at any angular position with respect to the top handle between zero and one hundred eighty (180) degrees. This offset arrangement of the upper and lower handle assists a user when moving between a sitting position and a standing position, because it enables the user to place his or her hands on opposing sides of the cane shaft thus providing better weight distribution and balance.
Additionally, preferably only the lower handle is rotatable so that user can first steady the cane shaft by gripping the upper, non-rotating handle before rotating the lower handle to a selected position.
The apparatus can optionally be provided with a lower tip end portion which is resilient such as being made of rubber, polymeric material (e.g., polyurethane) or other resilient material.
The cane shaft can be made of a lightweight yet strong material such as fiberglass tubing, composite material, lightweight metal or metal alloy material such as titanium or aluminum.
The apparatus of the present invention thus provides a cane and lift assist device to assist the user to stand up from a sitting position or to sit down from a standing position.
The apparatus includes a cane shaft having upper and lower end portions. A first upper handle is attached to the upper end portion of the cane shaft at the top of the cane shaft. A second, lower handle is attached to the cane shaft below the first, upper handle.
Each of the handles preferably mounts to one or more cylindrically shaped sleeves that each have an interior bore that closely fits the external surface of the cane shaft. Preferably only the lower handle is rotatable with respect to the cane shaft. In this fashion, the upper and lower handles can be selectively vertically aligned, such as when the user wants to operate the device as a cane, or can be offset with respect to each other when the device is to be used to assist the user when moving between a sitting position and a standing position.
One or more of the handles can provide a diagonally extending or curved support that extends from a position on the handle spaced away from the cane shaft to a position below the handle and connected to the shaft, preferably with a sleeve.
A stop can be attached to the cane shaft below the lower handle. The stop can be, for example, in the form of a cylindrically shaped or annular ring.
Preferably both of the handles have an upper sleeve and a lower sleeve, wherein the handle attaches to the upper sleeve and a diagonally extending support attaches to a lower sleeve and to the extreme outer end portion of the handle.